April 2/05 3:50 am - Team Canada Redlands Report

The Canadian men's development team is showing itself well in the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, California (March 31-April 3).

After the prologue and stage one, the team sits in 11th position on team GC and our top rider is Dustin MacBurnie in 18th. Most importantly, seven of the eight riders on the team survived yesterday's tough 170-km Oak Glen stage without major difficulties, despite the heavy crosswinds, high temperatures (for a Canadian in April, anyway) and a 10-kilometre climb at the end.

The sole exception was Manitoban Jay Hawranik, who is short on road miles and for whom the aggressive tempo at the start of stage 1 was simply too much. Jay finished the stage but missed the time cut.

Race notes:* Dustin suffered a front flat with about 50 km to go yesterday, but quick work from Mavic and quick thinking from his teammates got him back in the pack quickly.* Phil Abbott did an exemplary job in the crucial team support role of water carrier during the first stage, dropping back numerous times to pick up bottles from the team car. He paid for his efforts on the final climb but had the satisfaction of a job well done.* Jeff Sherstobitoff raced about 140 km on a flat-spotted rear tire with the casing showing through after braking hard to narrowly miss a crash in the hectic early part of the stage.* Despite the race organization's best efforts to come to my defense, I endured a major tongue lashing from a motorcycle cop after a close call in the caravan. It wasn't my fault, I swear ...* After our team soigneur was unable to come and directeur sportif Jacky Hardy was unable to secure an entry visa on time, the eight-rider Canadian team is being supported by just mechanic Chad Grochowina and myself. But with Redlands being only four days this year, things are going fine.

This project is intended to offer a racing opportunity to talented young athletes who do not have a team to take them to Redlands, in an environment that focuses on their development as cyclists rather than results.